Point of Sale (POS) systems are systems that allow merchants to process purchases made by their customers at the “point of sale,” which is the area in the merchant's establishment where the transaction comprising the exchange of value for goods or services takes place. The POS system may be as antiquated as a mechanical cash register or as complex as a fixed piece of computer hardware with components such as a cash drawer, touch screen and credit card swipe mechanism. From a customer's perspective, the merchant “rings up” the transaction at the POS system by recording the items which the customer purchases, calculates any sales tax due, presents a receipt to the customer, and receives payment from the customer.
The layout of merchant establishments may be burdensome on the customer if the customer is forced to locate the point of sale and then must be physically present at the point of sale. One example of a burdensome merchant layout is that of a hotel; when the customer is ready to check out, he/she traditionally must walk to the “front desk” of the hotel (which is essentially the “point of sale”) to pay his/her final bill. Newer POS systems in hotels allow customers to check-in at the front desk, but allow the customers to check-out by simply leaving their rooms on the check-out date without returning to the front desk. In this situation the POS system captures the customers' credit or debit card information at the time of check-in and processes the final bill prior to the designated check-out time. A printed copy of the final bill is usually delivered to the customer's room prior to the check-out time and an electronic copy of the final bill may be delivered to the customer's email account.
Other merchant establishments would benefit from a more “flexible” POS system that allows customers to pay for good/services at points other than the merchant's “fixed” point of sale. One type of merchant establishment that could benefit from a flexible POS system is the restaurant and bar industry. Restaurants and bars generally have fixed points of sale, such as POS systems located around a bar or a POS system located at the venue's entrance, and customers must either locate themselves at the POS system or provide their payment means to the venue's staff so that they may process the payment transaction at the POS system. This payment process in restaurants and bars is inefficient, causes customers to linger in the venue for periods of time and also forces the venue's staff to spend time processing payments instead of attending to other customers' needs.